Physics Meets Philosophy at the Planck Scale: Contemporary Theories in Quantum Gravity

Rating:
Summary: Excellent book!
Review: Excellent book on variety of topics and approaches to reconciling Quantum Mechanics and General Relitivity. This book is very unique. Even though there are not that many formulas in the book, this book is definitely for the serious and advanced. This book is very thought-provoking. All the contributors to different chapters are experts and there are many references to further readings for the topics discussed.

Rating:
Summary: Canonical Quantization can work.
Review: Never quite understood the barrier to quantizing gravity
when one realizes that R^infinity gravity quantizes without
any of the usual barriers (it is renormalizable on the grounds
that all required counter terms are available).
After which it is just a matter of following Einstein's
route to classical gravity, by setting to zero all
renormalized coupling constants, except that associated
with R.
End result, gravity quantized.

Rating:
Summary: Physics Meets Philosophy at the Planck Scale
Review: Physics Meets Philosophy at the Planck Scale: Contemporary theories in quantum gravity edited by Craig Callender and Nick Huggett is a book the gives the reader accessible introductions to the main and sometimes lesser known insight to quantum gravity.

This book was a challenge to read, yes, I must admit. But, that being said, I must say that it helped explain one of the greatest challenges in fundamental physics. How to come up with a plausible theory of quantum gravity out of quantum mechanics and general relativity. Yes, that all encompassing theory of everything aka quantum gravity. Space, time and matter all rolled into one grand theory. The so called problem of time in canonical quantum gravity, black hole thermodynamics and the relationship between the intrepretation of quantum theory and quantum gravity.

This book is divided into five parts, each of these parts has abstracts written to coorespond to the question at hand in these parts as chapters. These parts are as follows:

Part I: Theories of Quantum Garavity and their Philosophical Dimensions

Part II: Strings

Part III: Topological Quantum Field Theory

Part IV: Quantum Gravity and the Interpretation of General Relativity

Part V: Quantum Gravity and the Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics

This book not only looks at the physics to these, but also, looks at the philosophy that is concerned with fundamental questions regarding the nature of space, time, and matter. Seventeen authors give this book its body and soul for explaination as to how these fit together. What I particularly liked was the three chapters in "Strings" with "Reflections of the fate of spacetime by Edward Witten, A philosopher looks at string theory by Robert Weingard, and Black holes, dumb holes, and entropy by william G.Unruh.

This book isn't for everyone, but should be essential reading for anyone interested in the profound implications of trying to marry the two most important theories in physics. And that's the large and the small of it in a nutshell. But there is also a more positive reason for the connection between quantum gravity and the philosophy: many of these issues arising in quantum gravity are genuinely philosophical in nature.

How should we understand general relativity's general covariance... is it a significant physical principle,or is it merely a question about language with which one writes an equation? What is the nature of time and change? Canthere be a theory of the universe's boundry conditions? These are but a few of the questions asked and the explainations of the answers are trying to be resolved.

All, in all, this is a very good read and it will definately tax your brain.